Simple Ways to Grow Closer to God #080

1) Morning Offering

Give your day to God, at the start of your day, before you even know what good or bad things might happen. Then, cultivate the habit of repeating your "offering up" throughout the day, in moments of joy or sadness. Here's the morning offering I like to pray, but you can use a different one, or make up your own!

2) Spiritual Reading

We all have that pile of books next to our beds -- the ones we meant to get around to reading but never find the time. Make it easier to start reading by keeping books where you might have some down time -- in your bag, on the kitchen counter, or in the car. And make use of even small bits of time, just a few minutes is better than nothing! Start small, and you will find that time to read becomes much less of a challenge for you.

3) 15 Minutes of Mental Prayer

Make time to talk with God! You can't have a relationship with someone you never talk to. As Fr. Mike Schmitz suggests, this can be as easy as spending 7 ½ minutes listening, and then 7 ½ minutes sharing your thoughts with God each day. NOT TOO HARD! You can do this.

4) Examen at End of the Day

Make it a habit to spend a few minutes reviewing your day at the end of each day. Think of where you did the right things and where you did wrong things. Give thanks to God for choosing the good, and pray an Act of Contrition for where you chose the bad. Resolve to do better and ask for the grace to do better the next day. Then you can sleep in peace!

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